Park City Water Authority faces expensive, uncertain future

DAPHNE, Alabama -- The tiny Park City Water Authority on Tuesday will present its customers with three options for the future: raising rates significantly, dissolving the system in favor of Daphne Utilities or trying to drill its own well.

Two of the three — a rate increase and drilling a well — are expensive solutions for a system where the minimum charge, $17.97 per month, is already higher than in Mobile, Daphne, Belforest and Spanish Fort, according to figures provided by Kenneth Day, chairman of the water system.

Park City’s 408 customers, all but three of them residential, are being asked to attend a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Daphne City Hall. Day said he and the other two water board members would explain the choices and the problems facing the system. They hope to take action on one of the options at their June 12 meeting.

“Currently, we are paying more than Daphne Utilities’ customers. If we have a rate hike, we would be paying even more,” Day said.

The authority was formed in 1977 when, although Park City was not yet a part of Daphne, the community tapped into a water line that Daphne was running to Lake Forest, Day said. Today, the system continues to buy water from Daphne and pass it on to its customers.

The infrastructure is aging, and the authority has one employee, Day said. In February, the Baldwin County Commission appointed all new board members, including Day, Thomas J. Lee Sr. and Napoleon McCovery.

The new board learned that the contingency fund for repairs and unexpected expenses had been empty since 2010, Day said. Also, Daphne Utilities raised rates in late September.

Since February, board members have been studying the finances and the infrastructure, and have sought advice from the Alabama Rural Water Association.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that we’ve been on sort of a negative financial trend the last five years,” Day said. “We’ve got to do something different.”

While Park City charges a minimum of $17.97 for the first 1,000 gallons of water each month, Daphne Utilities charges $12.40, Day said. He quoted comparable fees at $12.38 for the Mobile Area Water and Sewer Service, $12.75 for the Belforest Water System and $15.50 for Spanish Fort, although Spanish Fort bases its minimum on 2,000 gallons, not 1,000 gallons.

The proposed increase would bring the minimum charge for 1,000 gallons to $22.02, and $28.82 for 2,000 gallons, Day said. Because water rates vary according to how much is used, percentage increases would range from 22 percent to 60 percent, he said.

Drilling a well would also require construction of a water tank, making for a very expensive project, he said. Dissolving the authority and turning the assets and liabilities over to Daphne Utilities would require a majority vote of two of the three board members. Day said he expects that Park City’s customers would end up with the lower bills paid by Daphne’s customers.

Daphne Utilities is open to discussing ways to help Park City if the authority asks for help, said Director Rob McElroy. The larger system has not formally been asked to participate in the public meeting.

“If any customer asks us for help, we look for ways to help,” he said.